Kodai Sengas rare reminder of his ability creates new Mets question in loss to Marlins

If Kodai Senga had pitched like this all season, the Mets would have one more enticing trade chip.Then again, if Senga had pitched like this all season, the Mets probably would not be collecting all their trade chips to offload.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

Pitching in place of the scratched Freddy Peralta on Friday night, Senga reminded he is still on the team while showing off some of the best stuff he has possessed all year.In his first outing in nearly two weeks, he dominated for four innings before fading, arguably the most potent the right-hander has looked since his season-opening quality start against the Cardinals back on March 31.Of course, the uptick in stuff arrived long after the Mets’ season unofficially ended.

And the uptick in stuff still did not ultimately matter in a game in which his stat line was skewered upon leaving and in which the Mets lost, 5-2, to the Marlins at Citi Field in front of 33,064 fans who were more entertained by the superhero renderings on the scoreboard than the action on the field.The Mets will not have Peralta after Monday.They probably will not have Clay Holmes, either.

Sean Manaea, Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton are near certainties to remain.Jonah Tong and Tobias Myers are on the 40-man roster with Triple-A Syracuse, and perhaps prospects Jack Wenninger and/or Jonathan Santucci could pitch their way to relevance.There will be intrigue to see whether a rotation spot will be reserved for Senga, who lost his job following a June 23 start against the Cubs — after which his ERA was 10.08 — and was shifted to the bullpen, where he has been as invisible as his ghost forkball.But as long as Senga is showing flashes of the All-Star he was in 2023, there will be reason to give him chances to prove the talent still can be extracted.

Add in the fact Senga is due $15 million next season, and the Mets mi...